Ask your cooperating teacher about their class policies. How do they introduce their policies and enforce them throughout the year? Obtain a copy of any handouts about policies or safety from the first week of class
Observations:
Today I meet Mrs. Reid, my CT at Westerly Middle School. I was absolutely amazed by how perfect the school was laid out. The building is absolutely perfect for a true middle school set up. Each team is set up in a ‘pod’. Each pod is essentially a little school. The four teachers’ rooms, as well as a resource and team room are all located in this section. All of the students’ lockers are here, as well as bathrooms and common space in the middle for whole team activities. While here I asked her about her policies, mostly about her safety policies and rules. She takes a familiar, yet different approach to this, and her method has changed a little from year to year, depending on other team considerations. She has the students brainstorm in a guided discussion what are essentially the lab rules, this student friendly wording is written on chart paper and hung in the room. Now the lab safety rules go home and most be signed by both the student and the parents. Some years she has had students create safety posters. Every year though she incorporates the safety rules into a science starter activity at the beginning of the following class. This years was a story about Spongebob and his friends in the lab where the students were to find all of the things that they did wrong.
Reflections:
Most people can come up with good rules, policies and safety guidelines. It is implementing these rules; making sure they are understood and applied that is more difficult. It seems as though the sense of team unity, both in the physical space and in the working chemistry the teachers seem to share, allows this to work very well. Although the lab rules might be considered to belong only in the science classroom, many in fact permeate life in school. As do her other class policies. By sharing a space, a mission and a goal, as well as the basic rules and policies, these students know from day one what is expected of them. The teachers can work together to quickly solve any issues, and all of their resources are close by. Additionally allowing the students to apply there knowledge to the task of the story forces them to think critically, keeping the ideas in their mind. The class discussion that followed the work presents the information in another modality. Safety is nothing to take lately and it seems as though this approach will do the trick
Class Topic: N/a
Grade:6
Observed by:Chris Liberti
Observations:
Today I meet Mrs. Reid, my CT at Westerly Middle School. I was absolutely amazed by how perfect the school was laid out. The building is absolutely perfect for a true middle school set up. Each team is set up in a ‘pod’. Each pod is essentially a little school. The four teachers’ rooms, as well as a resource and team room are all located in this section. All of the students’ lockers are here, as well as bathrooms and common space in the middle for whole team activities.While here I asked her about her policies, mostly about her safety policies and rules. She takes a familiar, yet different approach to this, and her method has changed a little from year to year, depending on other team considerations. She has the students brainstorm in a guided discussion what are essentially the lab rules, this student friendly wording is written on chart paper and hung in the room. Now the lab safety rules go home and most be signed by both the student and the parents. Some years she has had students create safety posters. Every year though she incorporates the safety rules into a science starter activity at the beginning of the following class. This years was a story about Spongebob and his friends in the lab where the students were to find all of the things that they did wrong.
Reflections:
Most people can come up with good rules, policies and safety guidelines. It is implementing these rules; making sure they are understood and applied that is more difficult. It seems as though the sense of team unity, both in the physical space and in the working chemistry the teachers seem to share, allows this to work very well. Although the lab rules might be considered to belong only in the science classroom, many in fact permeate life in school. As do her other class policies. By sharing a space, a mission and a goal, as well as the basic rules and policies, these students know from day one what is expected of them. The teachers can work together to quickly solve any issues, and all of their resources are close by.
Additionally allowing the students to apply there knowledge to the task of the story forces them to think critically, keeping the ideas in their mind. The class discussion that followed the work presents the information in another modality. Safety is nothing to take lately and it seems as though this approach will do the trick
Class Topic: N/a
Grade:6
Observed by:Chris Liberti